Change

I finally got the phone call I had been waiting for. I answered it with anxious anticipation."What am I doing?" I thought to myself. This could all be a huge mistake. I could be getting in way over my head.

The voice on the line tells me, "I need you to come in."

I had never been fired before, and I wasn’t sure what it was going to look or feel like. Even though I had planned this, even though I had worked hard to ensure this happened, I still wasn’t sure what it would feel like in the moment.

I entered the gym and was instructed to sit down in the open with my manager and the gym owner. My manager and I quickly glanced at each other, our eyes holding the secret of what we had been plotting.

The owner sat down and said,"You are a great trainer. You work hard, your clients love you—but your numbers the past couple of weeks just haven’t been hitting the quota. So I’m going to have to let you go. I wish you well wherever you land next, and I’d be happy to be a reference if you need it."

There it was.There I was—fully falling from the leap of faith I had decided to take in myself.Who would catch me if I couldn’t catch myself?

My body was riveting with anxious excitement on the inside, but I was calm as could be on the outside. I stood up, smiled, thanked them, and walked out the door.

On the outside, to somebody else, it may have looked like failure. I was just fired from my job. I had no other income immediately coming in. And I wasn’t quite sure if it was failure…But what I did know was that I was leaving somewhere that no longer made me happy to build something my heart was desiring.

I was opening my own gym. And I couldn’t do that without first eliminating the obstacles my current job had laid before me.

I was clearing the path and trying to make my own way.

The edge of a new experience, the edge of change—it always makes you feel a little uneasy, if not overwhelmingly so.It’s scary. It’s full of challenges and unanswered questions.It’s leaving the light of what you know and walking into the darkness of the unknown.

You can’t see the end from where you’re standing. But on the other side of the darkness?A new life. A new chapter. One full of growth, depth, and becoming.

The potential that’s been caged and locked down in your current position can only be freed by jumping in. You only find your way by starting.

You must move.

In Buddhism, the most basic and foundational teaching is this:“Everything changes.”There is not one thing in life that stays the same—not in all of existence. The world, the people, the lives, our feelings, our desires… all of it is constantly changing.And the more we resist that, the more we hook into where we are, who we are, what we do and what we have—the more misery, pain, and disappointment we set ourselves up for.

Peace is found in accepting this truth.There are two sides to everything in life. You can experience something that seems bad, and still—there is good within it.There is truth, insight, growth, love, and experience to be gained in every moment.

We are not our careers.We are not our net "worth."We are not our roles, our titles, or the body we exist in.We are energy in constant movement—in constant flux—ever evolving and changing.

Change is a catalyst for growth.What a beautiful and wonderful way to see the world.

The message that has resonated throughout the years, from all the times I’ve stood on the edge of a moment like this and decided to leap, has always remained the same:I am capable.I am capable of adapting. I am capable of finding solutions. I am capable of navigating change. I am capable of letting go and letting life shift right before my eyes, creating a new reality.

It’s hard not to anchor in.That’s worth recognizing.Our nature is to hold tight to the things that make us feel comfortable and secure—and most often, those are the things we tie our identity into.And while that may be true…

The other side of the coin still remains:You are capable of doing it all differently.

You are capable.